Refinance Help for those Underwater

 Could be of real help to those trying to keep their homes...

"Obama Expected to Unveil Housing Aid

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011
President Barack Obama is expected to announce Monday new policies to help struggling home owners, including a move that would allow borrowers to refinance their mortgage at current low rates no matter how much their home values have dropped.

The announcements are expected to unveil looser terms to qualify for the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which helps borrowers up-to-date on their mortgage payments refinance, despite a drop in their home values.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, also is expected to end a cap that excluded home owners from HARP who had mortgages that were higher than 125 percent of the home’s value.

Many borrowers who are underwater on their properties have been unable to refinance their mortgage since they do not have enough equity in their properties. The administration’s plan is expected to eliminate “appraisals and extensive underwriting requirements for most borrowers” who are up-to-date on their mortgage and want to refinance at a lower rate, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Obama is also expected to announce a reduction in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan fees and a waiving of fees for borrowers looking to refinance their mortgages into shorter terms. Lenders could start refinancing, following the new policies, as early as Dec. 1. However, mortgages that are more than the current loan-to-value limit may have to wait until early next year, according to media reports.

Housing experts believe that allowing underwater home owners to refinance at the current low rates will allow home owners to shave hundreds from their monthly mortgage bills and possibly help avoid foreclosures and free up more household cash to spur economic recovery in other areas.

Source: “WSJ: Home Lending Revamp Planned,” The Wall Street Journal (Oct. 24, 2011) [log-in required] and “Obama to Unveil Housing Plan on Campaign Swing West,” Reuters News (Oct. 24, 2011)"
http://realtormag.realtor.org/daily-news/2011/10/24/obama-expected-unveil-housing-aid

Appraisal Standard changes...

These changes will bring more regulation and difficulties, since appraisers will not be easily held accountable...  just hope you get a really good appraiser!!!!!!!!!


Daily Real Estate News  |  December 3, 2010  |    Share
Fed Releases Updated Appraisal Guidelines
The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration jointly on Thursday released the latest and what is expected to be final version of property appraisal guidelines.

The new guidelines set a standard for appraisal independence. Lenders can exchange information with appraisers, but they cannot "directly or indirectly coerce, influence, or otherwise encourage an appraiser or a person who performs an evaluation to misstate or misrepresent the value of the property."

Among other rules:

·    Banks cannot tell the appraiser of any expected or qualifying estimate of value.
·    Banks cannot specify a minimum value requirement for the property that is needed to approve the loan or as a condition of ordering the valuation.
·    Banks cannot tie an appraiser's compensation to loan approval.
·    Banks can’t blacklist an appraiser if his valuations fail to meet expected thresholds.

The agencies also clarified that broker price opinions (BPOs) don’t comply with the minimum appraisal standards.

Source: Housing Wire, Jon Prior (12/02/2010 http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010120303?OpenDocument

More information on those Appraisal rules...

Here is some more information about the newer appraisal rules that went into effect earlier this year...  there are some additional loan rules/etc that will be introduced soon that will increase the  length of escrow time and possibly interfere with the buyer's timing of rate locks/etc.  yikes!!

Take care, Karena

"Realtors: Home Appraisal Rule "Destroying" Recovery
Written for the web byPosted By: George Warren, Reporter  

 

CARMICHAEL, CA - Real estate agents say a new regulation aimed at reducing mortgage fraud is hampering the market's recovery.



"I've never seen a market like this where a ready, willing and able buyer couldn't buy the property," said veteran broker Bert MacBride.  



MacBride just lost three deals in a row because of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), which establishes restrictions on appraisals for conforming home loans. The HVCC took effect May 1.



The HVCC prohibits mortgage brokers and Realtors from contacting local appraisers to prevent undue influence. Instead, lenders draw from a pool of appraisers through an intermediary known as an appraisal management company.



"These appraisers may be 200 or 300 miles from the marketplace," said Rick Cunningham, a Fair Oaks appraiser who has seen his business drop by two-thirds since the HVCC took effect. "They (out-of-town appraisers) lack the data to do a competent report."



MacBride spoke to News10 in front of the Carmichael duplex where his latest transaction collapsed. The duplex was listed at $180,000 and attracted four offers. MacBride's was the highest at $188,000.



But a Bay Area appraiser valued the property at $165,000. The lender balked and the deal fell through.



MacBride said the appraiser probably used comparable properties that were bank-owned or in Citrus Heights, which is just a block away.



"There's something wrong with this appraisal process that needs to be corrected," MacBride said.



Tracey Saizan, the Keller Williams agent listing the duplex, said the seller has now dropped his price to $165,000 to reflect the appraisal and will lose $23,000 as a result. She said the seller also spent $4,400 unnecessarily on pest repairs before the deal fell apart.



"This (the HVCC) is destroying any chance we had of turning this market around," Saizan said. "We're going backwards."



Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, has sent a letter to HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan asking him to review the HVCC.



by George Warren, GWarren@news10.net


Created: 8/25/2009 4:13:24 PM Updated: 8/25/2009 7:25:33 PM "

Say No to Spending More Money on Appraisals

Remove the insane Appraisal Rules~
Please take a moment and go to
http://www.hvccpetition.com/SignPetition.aspx
and say NO to this regulation that has already cost consumers and buyers needless hundreds of additional dollars...

"URGENT HVCC UPDATE:
Thanks for signing our petition. HVCC Continues to devastate home values across the US. We fear that with higher Fannie and Freddie loan limits it will carry through to our former “jumbo” markets, leading the country even further into recession. As we’ve shared, Representatives Childers (D-MS) and Miller (R-CA) introduced legislation (H.R. 3044) requesting an 18 month moratorium on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). H.R. 3044 now has over 54 co-sponsors and now is the time to forward our petition to every person you know and every representative in the country. Read some of the comments in the petition and you will soon understand the harmful nature of this horribly misguided code.
ThinkBigWorkSmall applauds the introduction of H.R. 3044 and would like to thank Representative Childers (D-MS) and Representative Miller (R-CA) for their continued efforts and leadership on this issue but it is not enough. Tens of thousands of consumers have already been robbed of their opportunity to enjoy historically low rates by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s rule. HVCC needs to be permanently reversed in order to restore lower costs to the consumer and to protect the thousands of real estate transactions stalled by this horribly misguided code.
Please sign and forward the following petition and forward to everyone you know in the industry and ask them to forward to their representatives:
www.hvccpetition.com"